Steam purifier and skimmer



April 1, 1941. 'v.' E. MCCOY ETAL 2,237,157

I STEAM PURIFIER AND SKIMH'ER Filed Jan. 27, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1yawn/44m April 1, 1941. v. a MCCOY HAL 2,237,157 7 STEAM PURIFIER ANDSKIHIIER Filed Jan. 27, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v .fl

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Z Z 21 in Patented Apr. 1, 1941 UNI-T E D STAT ES; PAT E'NT OF F l C EQ'IEIEIAIVI PURIFIER AND SKIIVIMER- verllihMcCoy, La Grange, and HomerH. Richardson, vWestern Springs, Ill.

Application January 27, 1938; Serial'No: 187,232

6 Claims circulation withi'n'the boilencaused byheat absorption throughthefi're box-sheets. dinary locomotive boilerthesteam liberatedfrom overthe fire box passes; directly to the dome without having timefor'moisture entrained in Most of the steamliberated' in locomotiveboilers comes from the water at the rearend-of'. the boiler and fromover the top of the fire box. This is due'to the well understood In the1 or long travel of steam the moisture settles out to a considerableextent.

A transverse trough is positioned on each side of" thehorseshoe battleand the sides of these 5 troughs extend slightlyabove the water 'leveltothe boiler.

provide-bafiles in' thepath of the steam. The troughs are open at thetop and preferably so' arranged-that the topedges-are approximatelytwoinches above thenormal top water line in Also theyarepositionedlongitudinally approximately on the central vertical plane of the bodyof water-in the-boiler so thatoperation up or down hill; or sudden stopsor starts will not cause Water to spill into the trough.

-The troughs accumulate the moisture, bubbles the steam, as a result ofviolent ebullitiorfin' th'e areauoverand adjacent the fire-box, tosettle'out.

It is-an'object ofthe present invention toprovide a purifier and skimmeradapted'toi' remove the entrained moisture and: impurities from thesteamasit passes from the rear ofthe boil'er to the steam dome andthence to the locomotive cylinders. This-isacoomplished partially byprosteam to the steam dome which assists greatly in precipitating theentrained moisture-J Thede= vice is alsoarranged effectively to remove"foam" bubbles-as opposed toentrained moisture-an'dr also remove themoisture and dissolved solids suspended in the steam. The impurity ladenmoisand dissolved solids which are precipitated from the steam as itpasses through the -channel to the front of the U-shaped bafil'e fromwhich it returns to the steam dome.

Zo-act as skimmers and-collect the scum and bubbles from the surface ofthe water and the accumulation is then automatically blown ch in amanner to be later described.

An automatic steam blow-oil? is provided for 25.:blowing off theaccumulation from the-'troughs;- viding for a longer than normaltravelof-the This blow-off is controlled by means of a-valve' in theblow-off conduit. The-valve is in turn controlled-by steam pressureadmitted thereto by a I Ithe admission of steam to a suitable'pressureconduit leadingto the bl'ow-off Valve.

The troughs are connected together by means of an equalizing pipehavi'ng aconn'eotion lead ing to the blow-off valve so that when theiiskimm'ed water and impurities accumulate" inscribed hereincomprisesa.u-shaped bafilefwith.

the closed end. under the domeof thelocomotivetherefore, passes from therear of the: boiler through. the oppositely disposedpa ths towardthefront of the boiler and returns to the dome through the open end of: thebaflie.

During this: :5,

the troughs to an extent sufficientto operate the= float; the blow-offvalve is opened: The blow off is directed to a steam separator;preferably" lo cated on the top of the boiler: The steam sepagrator maybe of the usual centrifugal type and arranged to discharge the steamupwardlytherefrom and to discharge" the Water and impuritiesdownwardlyont'o' the road bed; or in any other desired direction Aparticular object of the invention automatic blow-oma'nd? which will becheap-to manufacture; easy" to install: and will not inter= feremateriallywith theinspection of theinterior' ofuthe boiler and? the:repair and usual servicing thereof.

The invention also provides means whereby water may bedeliveredto theboiler in theyformi of a sprayand wherein: all of thesteam flowing--around thebaffle-on the" way: to the domev'willf The troughs also istopro-' vide arr eflicient skimmer and purifier having an pass throughthis water spray and any entrained bubbles will be broken.

Further objects will be apparent from the specification and the appendedclaims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a boiler incorporating oneembodiment of the invention. The baflle and troughs and blow-offconnections are shown in full lines;

Fig. 2 is a top view of a boiler, partially in section with the topplate broken away to disclose the bafiies and skimmers and associatedelements; and

Fig, 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on a line substantiallycorresponding to line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referrin to the drawings, the embodiment illustrated comprises the usuallocomotive boiler l which may be provided with a fire box 2 having theusual crown sheet 3'and flue sheet 4. Flues 6 are connected to the fluesheet in the usual manner. Only a few of the fines are shown as theboiler may be of any usual construction well known in the art. Theboiler is provided with a dome I and a U-shaped bafile member orpartition 8 is positioned immediately thereunder. The

bafile 8, which may for convenience be called a horseshoe baflle, formsa U-shaped partition around the rear of the dome and depending from thetop boiler sheets to which it may be secured by any suitable means.

The horseshoe bafile is open at its forward end to provide a steampassage 9 leading to the dome, and its rear end is closed by an arcuatedoor It! which may be secured in any suitable manner as by key bolts.The door may be hinged or bolted or otherwise secured in any suitablemanner whereby it may be opened or removed for inspection of the firebox stays, or, for any necessary inspection or repair of the boiler. Thepartition formed by the bafiie 8 extends downwardly some distance belowthe top water line of the boiler, preferably about two or. three inches,and a laterally extending trough II is provided on each side thereof.These troughs are preferably V-shaped in cross section substantially asillustrated in Fig. 1, with the lowest point toward the front of theboiler and substantially below the water level.

The side walls of each trough extend upwardly above the water levelpreferably approximately two inches, or any suitable height which willenable the passage of steam without restriction and at the same timeprovide suitable bafiles for moisture or bubbles in the steam. Thetroughs are preferably rigidly secured to the horseshoe baflle and tothe sides of the boiler so that they extend laterally as shown in Fig. 3and provide a suitable steam passage [2 thereover on each side of thehorseshoe baffle 81.

It will be apparentthat with this construc tion, steam, which isordinarily generated over the crown sheet 3, must necessarily pass for-Wardly through the passages l2 and over the edges of the troughs whichform the previously mentioned baffles, and thence around the forwardends of the horseshoe baflle and rearwardly into the dome where it maybe passed to the steam cylinders through the usual steam conduit I3. Atthe same time the troughs l I provide efl'icient skimmers Alevel-equalizing pipe I 4 connects the troughs II, and an automaticblow-off is provided between the troughs so that the precipitationtherein may automatically be blown oif through the equalizing pipewhenever the precipitation reaches a predetermined depth. The automaticblow-off comprises a valve [5 which controls a blow-off conduit l6,which conduit communicates between the equalizing pipe [4 and the usualcentrifugal separator l1, the latter being preferably mounted on top ofthe boiler and arranged to discharge the steam preferably upwardly. Theseparator is also provided with a downwardly extending conduit I 8 fordischarging water downwardly to the road bed. The blow-off valve 15 isautomatically controlled by steam pressure from the dome, the steambeing directed through a conduit 2'0 as required to operate the valve I5. A float I9 is mounted on a suitable arm arranged to open a valve 2|controlling the pressure pipe 20, and which arm extends into one of thetroughs as shown in Fig. 3. Whenever the precipitated moisture and scumin the troughs reach a predetermined height, the float l9 opens thevalve 2| which in turn causes steam pressure to open the blow-off valve15 and the water is discharged from the troughs and, of

course, the valve closes as soon as a predetermined amount of water isblown off. a A water inlet to the boiler is provided and preferablycomprises a valve 22 located in front.

horseshoe baffle plate and through which the steam must pass to enterthe dome.

It will, therefore, be apparent that the spray from the pipes 24 willeffectively clean the steam and particularly will puncture bubbles whichpass over the trough and do not collect therein, and are obliged,therefore, to pass through the 7 fresh water spray from the inlet pipe.These foam bubbles are broken and precipitated with the spray.

The position of the troughs l l outside thehorseshoe baffle and the doorID at the end of the baffle permits accessibility to the boiler with outbreaking any water joints other than the dome cover itself.

An eflicient horseshoe baffle 'is provided where-' by the steam iscompelled to pass from the point of generation to the front of theboiler 1 and is then returned to the dome. This longer travel greatlyassists in dropping out entrained moisture and dissolved solids. Anefficient float control blow-off is'provided. in combination with ,.theabove described device and this blow-off may be from skimmer troughssubstantially at.

the water line of the boiler. 1 Furthermore an effective fresh waterspray is provided which effectively assists in, removingany impuritiesand causes precipitation of anybubbles in the steam.

moisture and impurities from the steam.

Modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention. It is desired, therefore, that the invention be limited onlyby er plates to below the water line with its closed 1 end communicatingwith said outlet and its open end remote from said crown sheet toprovide an elongated passage on each side of said boiler andcommunicating with the front thereof, a. foam skimmer in each passagebelow the water line and comprising a trough-like container extendinglaterally from each side of said U- shaped partition to the adjacentboiler plate and having its side walls extending above the water line toform bafiles, an equalizing conduit between said troughs, a float in oneof said troughs, and means controlled by said float to intermittentlydischarge the scum and impurities col-- lected by both skimmers.

2. In a locomotive boiler having a crown sheet with a normal water levelabove said crown sheet, the combination with a steam dome substantiallyon the central transverse plane of the body of water in said boiler andhaving a service outlet therefrom, of a substantially U-shaped bafflepartition depending from the top boiler plates to below said water linewith its closed end forming substantially a downward extension of thewall of said dome and with its open end extended forwardly a materialdistance from said dome to form a central passage substantially the samewidth as said dome, said dome and bafile being positioned in thetransverse plane of minimum disturbance of the water level duringtilting or sudden stops and starts of said locomotive.

3. In a locomotive boiler having a crown sheet at one end with a normalwater level above said crown sheet and a steam service outlet in advanceof said crown sheet but adjacent thereto, a substantially U-shapedpartition depending from the top boiler plates to below the water linewith its closed end immediately below and communicating with said outletand its open end remote from said crown sheet and said outlet to providean elongated passage on each side of said boiler communicating with thefront thereof, a foam skimmer trough extending laterally across eachpassage and transversely coextensive therewith below the water line andsubstantially on the central transverse plane of the body of water insaid boiler and having its. side walls slightly above the water line,and means controlled by variations in the liquid level in said troughsto intermittently discharge the accumulations therein.

4. In a locomotive boiler having a crown sheet with a normal water levelabove said crown sheet, the combination with a steam dome substantiallyon the central transverse plane of the body of water in each boiler andhaving a service outlet therefrom of a substantially U-shaped bafileforming a partition around said dome inlet between the crown sheet anddome and forming substantially a depending continuation of the domewalls and extending below the water line to provide a steam passage oneach side of said dome with the wings of said baflle extending amaterial distance forwardly of said dome, a trough-like skimmerreceptacle in each side passage below the water line and extendingtransversely of each steam passage from the bafile to the adjacentboiler plate and having its transverse side walls extending above thewater line to provide skimmer baffles, said skimmers being substantiallyon said central transverse plane, an equalizing conduit between saidshimmers, a normally closed blowoff conduit leading from said equalizingconduit, and means in at least one of said skimmers and controlled bythe liquid level therein to intermittently blow off the accumulation insaid skimmers through said equilizing pipe.

5. In a steam purifier and boiler skimmer, the combination with meansproviding steam paths along each side of the usual boiler dome and asingle return path to said dome, of a skimmer trough in each side pathand transversely coextensive therewith and substantially on the centraltransverse plane of the body of water in said boiler, an equalizingconduit between said troughs, and means controlled by the fluid level insaid troughs for automatically blowing off the accumulation therefrom.

6. In a steam purifier and boiler skimmer, the combination with meansproviding steam paths along each side of the usual boiler dome and asingle return path to said dome, of a skimmer troughs, and meanscontrolled by said float for intermittently directing steam to controlsaid valve in response to variations in liquid level in said troughs.

VERL E. MoCOY.

HOMER H. RICHARDSON.

